Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1887-04-09
WHY DON'T PEOPLE THINK Z

thousand or more people OF all kinds,
as We dc in the course of year.
Here is a man whom we never saw,
that writes us about his subscription
TO The Journal:
Ii you think / am not honest
enough to pay you for your paper,
you are at liberty to stop it. gen.
orally pay my honest debts.
AS we said, we never saw this
gentleman, don't know him; he may
be all he says, but why does he ask
us to send him our paper and wait
until he is ready to pay9 The terms
of subscription are payable IN ad-
canoe.
The parts of the terms in italics is
as much part of the terms as the
other. We would rather have S1.50
in advance than 80 at the end of the
year. We ought to have 81 in ad
vance; the reduction to $3.50, thai
We made IL years ago, was mis-
take, because the amount we receive
on subscriptions does not pay the
cost of publishing the paper. Every
one will admit that it ought.
Yet this man wants US to violate
our terms, trust him when we never
saw and don't know him; and be.
cause we decline to violate our terms,
he intimates that we think him
dishonest! Why doesn't he think 2
That's what his Creator made his
brains for.
An exchange pertinently says:
We wish subscribers to news
papers could appreciate the fact that
all subscriptions are paid in advance.
If not paid by the person receiving
the paper they are paid by the
publisher, to his paper maker, en-
ployes, etc., and when he credits his
subscribers he simply loans them so
much money and trusts to their
honor for repaying 1t at some future
time. Sometimes he is deceived
and never gets his money returned
he loans it with the full hope of
having it repaid.
Two months or so ago we sent out
about $50 bills to fiduciaries. Some
of these bills were for publications
made in 1882. We had supposed
them to be paid. The circular clearly
explains why we supposed so. And
yet we have received all sorts OF
foolish and insulting letters about
them. One man is surprised that
we would charge him 80 cents for
printing his name in the paper |!
Another sends us @ trade dollar
worth So cents to pay bill of one
dollar, and notifies us that he'll
never vote for us any more. We
hope not, for we don't want fool
for constituent. Another intimates
that zee had this law passed for our
personal benefit, whereas the bill
originated with the Revisory Com.
mittee of 1872, and we never saw
it nor knew of it till it came to the
Senate in 1882 after having passed
the House. This fellow is evidently
q dishonest man, and measures our
honesty and that of everybody else
by his Oacn standard. The fact is,
that laws passed by our efforts save
the people of the State at least
$4,000 year, and take that much
from the newspapers. But we did
vote for this act of 1882, and it is
splendid law. 1t was amended
afterwards, so that the County Court
can appoint more than one Commiss-
ioner of Accounts in each county.
That was q bad amendment, and We
opposed it and for a long time hung
it up. The law is a good one. There
ought to be in every county one good
man charged with the duty and
responsibility of seeing that fidu.
Charles guardians of orphans, for
instance) make settlements, that
their bonds are good, and if bonds
men become bad, to have new bonds
given, and thus to protect widows
and orphans from loss. The reason
that the law requires publication to
be made Of the fact that a fiduciary's
accounts are before the Commiss-
ioner for settlement, is to give
notice to all interested, so that they
may examine the fiduciary's vouch-
ers and bills and see that they are
correct-so, in short, that people
may protect themselves. OF course,
such law is good one. But peo-
pie who don't think don't, know it.
Preston Journal.